The Calliope Hummer 
Fiery Topaz, Ruby-and-Topaz, Al¬ 
lied Emerald, Sapphire-breasted 
Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, 
Equadorian Rainbow, Equatorian 
Sunbeam, Parzudaki's Sun-Angel, 
Gould’s Heavenly Sylph, Fanny’s 
Wood-Star, Compte de Paris’s Star- 
frontlet, Mrs. Stewart’s Star-throat, 
Isaacson’s Puff-leg, Baroness de Le- 
fresnaye’s Plumeleteer, Blossom- 
crown, Little Violet-ear, Pallid Her¬ 
mit, Bearded Mountaineer, Green 
Mango, Darker-Green Carib, Spark¬ 
ling tail, Tyrian-tail, White-booted 
Rocket-tail, Black-billed Streamer- 
tail, Curve-winged Saber-wing, Jul¬ 
ia’s Train-bearer, the Sappho Comet, 
the Circe, Rivoli, and Lucifer Hum¬ 
mers, the Frilled, Spangled, Festive, 
and Adorable Coquettes, the Charm¬ 
ing, Beautiful, and Lovely Hum¬ 
mingbirds, and, last but not least, 
the truly Marvelous Humming¬ 
bird ( Loddigesia mirabilis). What 
wonder, then, that with so many 
children to provide for, Gould, the 
great monographer of the Trochilidce, 
should have named this nearly 
silent, but always beautiful species, 
after the muse of eloquence, Calliope. 
Star-Hummer would, however, have been the more fitting name, for the 
genus Stellula is unique in this highly gifted family, in that the gorget of 
the male is distensible into separate rays of purple, like a halved star. 
This, the tiniest of our sextette of California Hummers, is also the 
highest-ranging, at least in the nesting season. It is essentially a moun¬ 
tain-loving species, and is, so far as we have been able to prove, the only 
breeding Hummer of the higher Sierran slopes. There is a 3000 foot 
record, by Stephens, of a nest in the San Bernardinos; but 4000 is the 
usual minimum, and 8000 a better average. In the Canadian zone, 
therefore, the bird knows no restrictions, save that it does not favor the 
densely timbered sections. In the Sierras it nests nearly up to timber 
line, 10,000 to 11,500 feet, and follows the advancing season to the limit 
Taken m Washington Photo by F. S. Merrill 
CALLIOPE HUMMER, FEMALE 
